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Sunday September 29, 2013 11:03 AM

TIMBUKTU, Mali — At least four people were killed and several wounded in a suicide car-bomb
attack in Timbuktu yesterday. It was the first since Mali’s presidential election, which was aimed
at ending months of chaos that followed a Tuareg uprising and a military coup.

The attack comes a few days after Tuareg separatists pulled out of a ceasefire agreement and
peace process with the new Malian government.

Witnesses said the suicide bombers detonated their vehicle near the Malian army camp in
Timbuktu, killing both occupants of the vehicle and two passers-by.

“The city was shaken by a loud explosion followed by the crackling of machine-gun fire,” said
Fatoumata Cisse, whose house is near the military camp.

Diarran Kone, Mali’s army spokesman in Bamako, the capital, said the two suicide bombers and two
occupants of a transport cart were killed.

“Some soldiers were wounded,” Kone said. “A part of the wall of the military camp collapsed
after the explosion, but our men are in control of the situation now.”

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was elected in August, has promised to make security a top
priority as the country battles the remnants of Islamist militant groups who occupied the north of
the country for more than nine months.

The United Nations has approved a force of about 12,600 soldiers and police officers, once fully
deployed, to help stabilize and secure the country.